Unfortunately for the Taliban (and fortunately for us!), Malala survived the attempt and was flown to the United Kingdom, where she recovered from a gunshot wound to the head and continued her campaign.

The 16-year-old activist appeared on The Daily Show to speak about her new book I Am Malala. Jon Stewart began by thanking her for speaking with him and expressing how honored and humbled he was to meet her.

While all of Malala’s answers were heartfelt and passionate, the moment she spoke about how she reacted to the terrorist who wanted to kill her shook Stewart, and the audience, the most. She explained that her first thought would be to fight back. But then she realized the reaction would be stooping to his level. She added:

“If you hit a Talib, then there would be no difference between you and the Talib. You must not treat others with cruelty… You must fight others through peace and through dialogue and through education.”

So, instead of fighting violence with violence, Yousafzai explained she would “tell him how important education is and that I would even want education for your children as well. That’s what I want to tell you.” She then thought about saying, “Now do what you want.”

The response was enough for Jon Stewart to tell Malala he wanted to adopt her. The proposal made Yousafzai laugh, but it’s clear her devotion to her father wouldn’t let her say yes.

Since her brush with death at the hands of the Taliban, Malala Yousafzai has spoken at the United Nations, received an award from Harvard University, and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Check out the rest of her interview on The Daily Showhere.